29 Apr 2015

On the morning of the day Ana was born, we got up early to go renew our drivers license: our visa had just been approved for another 2 years and this was the last day before our licenses expired.

The day Ana was born we finally got around to taking some nice pregnancy photos, something we had been postponing for several weeks and decided that day would be the day.

The day Ana was born we were going to spend the day cleaning out our new place of all the dust, dirt and paint to get it ready for the move in that was going to happen the next day. These were the final days of our lease on our old place, so we had to move fast.

The day Ana was born I spent the most part of the afternoon on all fours scrubbing the dirt and paint stains from the floor of our bedroom, thinking if nothing else is clean, at least our bedroom would be ready for Ana. I had been feeling pressure on my cervix and so down on all fours was the best position to be in, apparently, this helps labor babies!

The day Ana was born my water broke at around 7pm while I was taking a break from scrubbing the floors. Pedro was beside me and we both smiled with anticipation and panic: she was coming on the worst possible day! She was coming 2 weeks early, at 37 weeks.

The day Ana was born, we calmly took a deep breath and called all our family and close friends. We headed home for a shower and a meal, got everything ready for the hospital and prepared ourselves for a long night ahead.

The doctor was called: "Don't worry, this takes long. You can either come to the hospital and wait it out and we might have to induce it, but the best would be to stay home and come in in the morning."

The day Ana was born, I started feeling very mild cramps about an hour after my water broke which quickly became less mild and very close apart: 3 minutes! Early labor contractions are usually 20-30 min. apart, so we got worried.

At around 8:30pm contractions became more intense and water was gushing from inside me. All I wanted to do was sit at the toilet. At around 9pm contractions became unbearable, lots of pain and 2min apart. I remember thinking: if these are early labor contractions, I don't want to know what active labor feels like.

The doctor was called again: "okay, if you feel pain, then come in". She probably thought: "yeah, yeah, another paranoid first time mom..."

The contractions got so bad we headed immediately to the hospital at around 9:30-10pm. Those was not normal early labor contractions: super intense, every 2 min and water kept on coming out.

Breath Isabel, breath!

The day Ana was born the receptionist at the hospital said: "please fill these papers out". I grabbed Pedro, with a puddle of water around my feet and yelled "I feel like pushing!" This was when she realized I couldn't wait for paper work and called a nurse who forced me onto a wheelchair and into the delivery room. Our documents were left on the counter, our car in the temporary parking spot.

The day Ana was born, I was 8cm dilated by 10pm! This girl was coming out fast not waiting for the doctor who was still 25min away and a back up doctor was being called. Nurses were all around me with needles and monitors. I asked for an epidural, they laughed: "you are too far in labor for that". I was grateful. I always wanted Ana to be born with a natural, drug free labor and that's what I was getting!

So suck it up Isabel, you are doing this!

The day Ana was born there was no time for the playlist on my phone, no time for the nice hospital gown I bought, no time for photos.

The day Ana was born I had Pedro smiling and encouraging me on one side of the bed and a Scottish nurse on the other helping me breath through every contractions: breathing is what made the pain bearable. Pushing felt so relieving. Her head was out and then her body and then she's placed on my chest: we finally saw her and she's beautiful with a full set of hair.

Ana was born after 10 contractions and 5 intense pushes at 10:53pm with 3.145kg, 51cm, with no tearing and no stitches. Thank you Ana.